Title 43, Public LandsRelease 119-102
§883 Collection of Costs of Surveying, Etc.; Reimbursement of Purchaser
Title 43 › CHAPTER 21 — GRANTS IN AID OF RAILROADS AND WAGON ROADS › § 883
Summary
If a railroad company that is supposed to pay for surveying, picking, or transferring land does not pay within 30 days after the Secretary of the Interior asks for the money, the Secretary must tell the Attorney General. The Attorney General will then start legal action right away to collect the debt. If money is collected for those costs on land that was bought under section 882, the Secretary must use the collected money to repay the buyer, or the buyer’s heirs or assigns, for what they paid.
Full Legal Text
Title 43, §883
Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
If any railroad corporation required by law to pay the costs of surveying, selecting, or conveying any lands granted to such company or for its use and benefit by Act of Congress shall for thirty days neglect or refuse to pay any such costs after demand for payment thereof by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall notify the Attorney General, who shall at once commence proceedings to collect the same. But when any sum shall be collected of such railroad company as costs of surveying, selecting, and conveying any tract of land which shall have been purchased under the provisions of section 882 of this title, the Secretary of the Interior shall out of such collections reimburse said purchaser, his heirs or assigns, the amount of money paid by him as the costs of such surveying, selecting, and conveying.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
43 U.S.C. § 883
Title 43, Public Lands
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102